The sun was shining on another picture perfect day in Rio,and a certain group of birds were all gathered together for a relaxing house party. The party was being held at the house of a spoonbill named Kipo, and in attendance were his friends: Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Nico, and Pedro. Tropical samba music was playing, and many bowls of fruit and nuts were set out ona coffee table. Presently, Pedro and Nico were arguing over who got to eat the biggest banana, while Rafael laughed at the two's back and forth. Blu and Kipo were sitting next to each other on the other side of the table from Nico and Pedro. Blu was busy cutting a mango into quarters with a fork, while Kipo dug into his own yellow fruit hungrily with his large bill. He lifted his head up and slurped the sweet juice up with his tongue. "Mmm, this is really, really good, huh Blu?"

Blu nodded his head in agreement and said, "You bet, Kipo. I love mangoes; they're one of the few tropical fruits that were available where I used to live before." He then picked up one of the slices that he had cut and placed it in his beak, chewing it slowly to savor the taste. Meanwhile, Kipo felt a rumble in his tummy after eating his fill of mangoes. He grinned for he knew from experience that this meant a big burp was on its way. Kipo loved belching after meals, for him it was almost as enjoyable as eating the food. Looking at Blu swallowing his bite now, Kipo smirked, getting an idea.

He tapped Blu on the shoulder, catching Blu's attention before the macaw could put another piece of mango in his mouth. Blu turned, smiling towards the spoonbill and asked: "What's up, Kipo?" Kipo shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and still grinning, beckoned the macaw closer with a wingtip. "Get closer and I'll tell you; it's a secret." Blu nodded his head eagerly and shuffled nearer to Kipo. However, when he was within range, Kipo burped loudly, right in Blu's face. *Burrrrrrrrup*

The loud noise caught the attention of the other birds gathered in the living room, who turned their heads just in time. They saw Blu's eyes widening in surprise while he gritted his beak in order to smell as little of Kipo's breath as possible. When Kipo's burp ended, he let out a pleasant, albeit stinky sigh in Blu's direction and rubbed his belly. "Ah, nothing like a nice burp after a good meal, am I right Blu?" Kipo nudged Blu in the shoulder while laughing.

Blu meanwhile squinted his eyes while waving a wing in front of his face to fan the smell of Kipo's breath away. "Well, I mean- it was definitely something Kipo." Blu said, quite annoyed before adding in a lower voice: "I guess." Kipo then doubled over laughing, the only noise that could be heard in the awkward silence that had befallen the group of friends. That is until Clara cleared her throat and drew the birds' attention to her. "Ahem."

Kipo stopped laughing to look at his girlfriend. His smile fell into an anxious mask when he saw the look of disapproval on her beak. She even had her wings crossed over her chest. Kipo shuffled his big feet under the table and asked, though he figured what she was going to say. "Um, yes Clara?"

Clara never really liked how Kipo had a tendency to burp loudly after eating. After the first few times he did it in public when they were out on dates and he embarrassed her, Clara had threatened to break up with him unless he stopped belching out loud. Kipo had obeyed in public, but still burped quite frequently and rudely at home. Clara always tried not to let it upset her, but this time Kipo had gone too far and she knew she needed to lay the law down again. "Kipo, what the hell was that?" she asked, trying to hold back the anger in her voice. "Blu's our guest, and you burped right in his face like a total pig. What is the matter with you?"

Kipo tilted his head to the ground in shame, feeling his cheeks redden with embarrassment. He was beginning to regret the whole thing. "I don't know," he mumbled, "I guess I thought it would be kind of funny to burp on him, like a prank sort of thing, you know?" Clara shook her head and sighed with exasperation. "You didn't stop and think that it might be very rude to do something like that? That Blu might be very offended?" She turned to Blu who was just sitting next to Kipo, watching each bird speak. Clara asked Blu, "DId he upset you by doing that? If so, I would just like to say I am very sorry and I hope he apologizes too." Clara said, turning back to Kipo with a glare.

Kipo wilted further in his guilt and turned to face Blu. "I'm sorry I burped in your face like that Blu. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. That was totally gross, and I know I would have been upset if you did the same thing to me. I'm really sorry." Blu nodded his head and placed a wing on the spoonbill's shoulder. "It's cool, I'm glad you apologized. Not gonna lie," he said with a chuckle, "your breath was pretty bad, so I would appreciate it if you never did that again."

Kipo nodded his head, and with a serious look on his bill said: "I won't. Thanks for forgiving me." Then, he turned to Clara who smiled at him and nodded her head in approval. "Thank you for doing that Kipo, it was very mature of you." She clapped her wings together and said: "Now then everyone, I have a special surprise for all of you."

That sent a ripple of excitement throughout the birds who began trying to guess what the surprise was as Clara went into the kitchen to retrieve it. "Oh, I bet it's a leaf blower," said Pedro. "Or a set of blades," Jewel gasped with excitement. "Maybe it's something that will finally get my children to behave," Rafael hypothesized. Finally, Clara returned with something held behind her back. Grinning widely, she revealed the item with a "Ta-da!" The whole gang gasped excitedly upon seeing a specially crafted chocolate cake. "I made it last night," Clara announced. "Let's cut it and enjoy!"

A short time later, the birds had all finished their dessert and were now making small talk with each other. Kipo was busy licking his wingtips clean of the vanilla icing that was frosted on the cake. "Mmm, that was delicious," he exclaimed with a big grin on his face. Then, Kipo belched loudly, drawing everyone's attention to him once again. Kipo ignored the disgusted groans of some of his friends and simply sighed happily, rubbing his belly. He licked his chops and said, "Ah, consider that belch my compliments to the chef, hehehe," he chuckled.

Jewel rolled her eyes at the spoonbill's bad manners. "Really, Kipo? You couldn't at least say excuse me. God, you're so rude." Rafael laughed at the female macaw's comment and said: "Oh come on now Jewel, all he did was burp. It's completely natural." Then Rafael let out a loud burp of his own *Burrrrrrrup* Rafael patted his belly with a smirk on his face and said: "Wow Clara, that cake really is making all us guys burp hahaha."

Clara glared at the two males and said with an exasperated sigh: "Men, so gross am I right Jewel?" The Spix's macaw laughed and bumped wings with Clara. "You said it sister." Then she turned to face the toucan again. "That burp was foul, Rafael."

Rafael laughed and said, "Why thank you Jewel. I'll take that as a compliment." Kipo high fived Rafael and said: "Nice one bro. Gotta show these ladies how it's done sometime." Then, both Kipo and Rafael burped loudly again, sighed happily, and said: "Ah, nothing like a nice big burp after a meal." Then, the two birds cracked up laughing.

Meanwhile, the rest of the birds, excluding Pedro who let out a couple belches of his own during the meal, said: "Ewww, gross! Don't you two have any manners?" Kipo and Rafael merely patted their bellies, shrugged their shoulders, and each belched again for good measure. Kipo covered his bill with his wings afterward, his cheeks red with embarrassment, and said: "Oops, excuse me everyone." Rafael likewise nodded his head and said: "Indeed Kipo, pardon my manners everybody."

The gang gasped with shock, in disbelief that the birds were showing a bit of politeness now. A moment later, however, they both smirked and shouted: "NOT!" Then both Kipo and Rafael burst out laughing while the rest of the birds sighed with annoyance and threw cushions at them. Clara rolled her eyes and said, "I should have known better. You two are hopeless."